MIAMI (August 5, 2012)--Tropical Storm Ernesto churned westward across the central Caribbean early Sunday, heading for a pass south of Jamaica that could bring several inches of rain to the island.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ernesto was centered early Monday about 240 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica with maximum sustained winds of about 50 miles per hour and was moving westward at 22 miles per hour.

The center says recently formed Tropical Storm Florence, far out in the Atlantic, had stopped strengthening early Sunday.

That storm has top sustained winds of 60 miles per hour and was 680 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.

The center said Florence is expected to resume strengthening in the next day or so.